County Supports An Aids Hospice

Palm Beach County commissioners agreed on Tuesday to support an effort to open a hospice for dying AIDS patients in the County Home and General Care Facility on 45th Street in West Palm Beach.

Indigent AIDS victims who have nowhere else to turn and no health insurance could live out their days in the 15-bed wing of the home, expected to open in November.

Capacity could double if the need develops, said Assistant County Administrator Vince Bonvento.

Commissioner Ken Adams proposed the hospice after his initial attempts to open a unit near Belle Glade angered community leaders. They feared it would further stigmatize their town, already known for having one of the highest rates of AIDS per capita in the nation.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is caused by a virus that disables the body`s immune system, leaving victims unable to fight off infection.

``There is tremendous suffering going on,`` Adams said. ``Some of these people are down to half their weight. They really look like survivors of a concentration camp.``

Adams is soliciting $400,000 from a private foundation to renovate an empty wing of the County Home into the AIDS ward.

It would function separately from the rest of the home, which houses elderly and handicapped people.

The Roman Catholic Church is attempting to assign nuns to the project and volunteer aids will be recruited by Hospice of Palm Beach County, which operates Hospice-By-The-Sea in Boca Raton, Adams said.

The county`s cost is estimated at $400,000 a year to provide the medical staff, supplies and food necessary to keep accreditation, Bonvento said.

Some AIDS victims in Belle Glade are too weak to care for themselves and their families have rejected them. ``They basically live in the streets,`` Bonvento said.

The County Home reserves seven beds for AIDS patients, four of which are filled, Bonvento said.

Many AIDS patients have insurance and stay in hospitals, he said.

``Obviously, the county is not in a position to provide free care for those who can afford it,`` Bonvento said.

Final approval of the measure is expected in four to six weeks, after the financial arrangements are settled with the private benefactors, Bonvento said.